Despite late comeback Nevada loses to Fresno, 49-41
Nevada put up 702 yards of total offense and scored five touchdowns against Fresno State Saturday afternoon, but it wasn’t enough as big defensive mistakes led to a 49-41 loss in front of 18,503 fans at Mackay Stadium.
Fresno State returned a punt and a blocked field goal for touchdowns in the first half and Nevada was never able to recover.
“I’m bitterly disappointed that we played this way at home,” Nevada coach Chris Ault said.
The game was much more lopsided than the final score indicated as Nevada trailed 49-20 with 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and never threatened the Bulldogs after the first half.
Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews shredded the Wolf Pack defense, gaining 171 rushing yards and scoring three touchdowns, two of which came on runs of over 50 yards.
“I just think we came out really flat,” Nevada linebacker Ezra Butler said. “Big play after big play just takes the wind out of your sails.”
Adding to Nevada’s list of woes was a season-ending injury to starting quarterback Nick Graziano in the beginning of the second quarter.
Graziano was sacked by Fresno State’s Tyler Clutts and Jon Monga for a loss of three yards and fell awkwardly, causing a tendon injury in his foot or ankle.
Ault said Graziano is scheduled to have surgery on Monday and backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick will start against Boise State next week.
The one bright spot in the game for Nevada was Kaepernick’s play after he replaced Graziano.
The freshman threw for 384 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 60 yards and one touchdown.
“I thought Kaepernick was outstanding,” Ault said.
Kaepernick engineered a comeback in the fourth quarter, throwing for two touchdowns in two minutes.
He hit running back Luke Lippincott for a 36-yard touchdown with 29 seconds remaining and second later threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Adam Bishop after a Fresno State fumble was recovered by Nevada’s Shannon Sevor.
“I thought the offense in that fourth quarter played as good as it can play,” Ault said.
Nevada tried an on-side kick but it was recovered by Fresno State and the clock expired.
Fresno State quarterback Tom Brandstater had a mediocre game, throwing for 168 yards and no touchdowns, but the Bulldogs excelled on the ground, out-rushing Nevada 307-211.
Nevada falls to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play and Fresno State improves to 3-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Nevada travels to Idaho next week to play Boise State (3-1).
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